QB tightens grip on MVP, Mahomes suffers injury scare and a three-way fight for the NFC: NFL Week 15 Sunday wrap
By Sam Joseph and Homero De la Fuente, CNN
(CNN) — We are firmly in the home stretch of the 2024 NFL season and there is everything to play for.
Several division titles are still to be decided and home-field advantage in the playoffs is on the line, with multiple squads flying high at the top of each conference.
The postseason picture gets slightly clearer each week, though with a handful of teams still in the hunt, fans will have to wait and see how the seeding shakes out. And of course, the MVP race is still very much on, though one quarterback may have one hand on the trophy after another stellar display.
Here’s a look at the biggest storylines from Sunday’s Week 15 action.
Josh Allen and the Bills motor past the Lions in high-scoring thriller
In a battle between two of the NFL’s best teams, Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen put on yet another masterful performance to lift the Bills to a 48-42 victory on Sunday to snap the Detroit Lions’ franchise-record 11-game win streak.
Allen completed 23-of-34 passes for a season-high 362 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 105 and two more TDs as he further cemented his MVP candidacy.
“Tough win. We figured it was going to be like that here. It’s a really good football team, well-coached team we have a lot of respect for,” Bills head coach Doug McDermott said after the game.
The dual-threat quarterback has been on an incredible hot streak as of late for the Bills, scoring 16 total touchdowns – eight through the air, seven on the ground and one reception – while tallying 1,114 passing yards, 223 rushing yards over the past four games, all while having one turnover.
“It’s the best I’ve seen him play and (I’m) not surprised. When he sets a goal for himself, for the team, he’s hard to stop,” McDermott added. “People have tried, they’ll keep trying, that’s what we do in this league. I mean just incredible performance week after week.
“What more can you say? Every week we’re watching an incredible player, play incredibly consistent week after week.”
In the last four games, the Bills have also dealt the two-time defending Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs their only loss of the season.
Sunday’s victory came against a Lions team that was the favorite for lifting the Super Bowl entering the game and was on an 11-game win streak with the best record in the NFC.
The victory didn’t come easy for the Bills, as they faced off against a Lions team led by quarterback Jared Goff. The Lions signal-caller outplayed his counterpart, throwing 38-of-59 for 494 yards and a career-high five touchdowns in the losing effort.
After jumping out to a 21-14 lead in the first half, the Bills began to pull away in the third quarter as James Cook broke out for a 41-yard rushing score, and Allen connected with Khalil Shakir on a short three-yard touchdown to take a 35-14 advantage.
However, Detroit responded by scoring two touchdowns to cut the deficit to 38-28.
Although the Lions matched the Bills score-for-score from that point on, they never truly appeared as a threat to knock off Buffalo.
Chiefs win but injury concerns arise over Patrick Mahomes
The Bills’ victory moves them to 11-3, second in the AFC behind the Chiefs, who eased past the struggling Cleveland Browns 21-7.
Despite having only lost one game this season, Kansas City has looked much more vulnerable than in recent years. The Chiefs have escaped with a win in several close games and uncanny luck has appeared to bail them out on multiple occasions.
While it wasn’t exactly an offensive masterclass seen in previous seasons, Kansas City picked up the comfortable win that it had been craving, taking the victory by more than one score for only the third time this season and improving to 13-1.
Though the manner of the win was much needed, Chiefs fans are far more likely to spend time sweating the health of superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes after the two-time MVP left the game with ankle injury in the fourth quarter.
Kansas City attempted to go for it on 4th-and-3 just under seven minutes into the quarter, when Mahomes was wrapped up by Browns defenders on the play. His pass went incomplete and he limped off the field, being replaced by Carson Wentz for the team’s next offensive possession.
Mahomes is currently being considered week-to-week with a right ankle injury.
“I was trying to make a play happen,” the Chiefs star QB said postgame. “As I threw the ball, I got hit, and I haven’t seen it – it felt like someone hit me from behind as well, so kind of got rolled up on. Kind of happens in football. Try to bound back up, but obviously, it hurt a little bit. Now, we’ll get after the rehab part of it and try to be ready for next week.
“It’s hard to say right now,” he added when asked about the status of his ankle. “Obviously, still adrenaline rolling. Usually, the day after is when you get a good sense of it. I feel like I could have finished the game in different circumstances.”
Mahomes completed 19 of his 38 pass attempts for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Kansas City also leaned on the run game, with five different players combining to total 132 yards on the ground.
It was also a complete performance from the Chiefs defense, which punished a mistake-prone Browns unit, racking up six sacks and forcing two fumbles.
The defense also picked off Cleveland QB Jameis Winston three times, before he was replaced later in the game by Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who also threw his own interception on his second drive.
The Browns have failed to look competitive all year and now sit at 3-11 in what has been a season to forget.
Eagles take down Pittsburgh as the race for NFC No. 1 seed heats up
It appears that, once again, it’s sunny in Philadelphia. The Eagles came out victorious in front of a raucous Philly crowd at Lincoln Financial Field in a cross-state battle against the Pittsburgh Steelers that could have huge ramifications in the battle for home-field advantage in the playoffs.
Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts was excellent in the 27-13 victory, throwing 25-of-32 for 290 yards and two touchdowns.
It marks an incredible turnaround from Week 14, where the Eagles struggled on offense in a surprisingly hard-fought 22-16 win over the Carolina Panthers. Hurts only threw for 108 yards in that game and wide receiver AJ Brown criticized the passing offense after the matchup. Defensive end Brandon Graham also told SportsRadio 94WIP that the pair “were friends, but things have changed.”
Graham later walked back his comments, but Hurts and Brown seemed to determined to prove his original remarks wrong on Sunday.
Brown was targeted 11 times during the game and made eight catches for 110 yards and a touchdown.
The receiver was asked after the matchup if his comments about the pass game made a difference to the unit’s performance.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I said it for a reason. I didn’t have ill intentions behind it. It wasn’t for me to get the ball. It was for us to all get on the same page and put the best foot forward. It wasn’t our standard. We spoke about it. It’s just crazy though because everybody in the locker room is saying the same thing. I kind of got crucified for it. But it’s cool.”
The Eagles took a 17-13 lead into halftime and the defense stepped up after the break, shutting out the Pittsburgh offense in the next two quarters. A Jake Elliot field goal tacked three points on to the lead before a “Brotherly Shove“ touchdown extended it further.
Philadelphia moved to 12-2 with the win, tied with the Lions for the best record in the NFC. The 11-2 Minnesota Vikings have the opportunity to make it a three-way battle for the No. 1 seed if they defeat the Chicago Bears on Monday night.
It was a tough loss for the 10-4 Steelers, who have been led by a resurgent Russell Wilson under center and head coach Mike Tomlin’s standout defense.
The Steelers face difficult matchups against the Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals to close out the regular season, though their fans can breathe a sigh of relief. Due to defeats for the Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh wrapped up a postseason spot on Sunday.
Full Week 15 Sunday results
Away @ home (winners in bold)
Kansas City Chiefs 21-7 Cleveland Browns
New York Jets 32-25 Jacksonville Jaguars
Cincinnati Bengals 37-27 Tennessee Titans
Miami Dolphins 12-20 Houston Texans
Baltimore Ravens 35-14 New York Giants
Dallas Cowboys 30-14 Carolina Panthers
Washington Commanders 20-19 New Orleans Saints
New England Patriots 17-30 Arizona Cardinals
Buffalo Bills 48-42 Detroit Lions
Indianapolis Colts 13-31 Denver Broncos
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 40-17 Los Angeles Chargers
Pittsburgh Steelers 13-27 Philadelphia Eagles
Green Bay Packers 30-13 Seattle Seahawks
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